Avs on first winning streak of the 2014-15 season

[Zz_]

The Colorado Avalanche have found the winning touch in their last two games notching their first winning streak of the 2014-15 season. After a miserable start on the road against Philly and the Islanders, the Avs pulled off two huge wins.

 

Against the New York Rangers, the Avs were able to put a goal past Lundquist in every period, including the equalizer by sophomore Nathan MacKinnon. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov made several huge saves keeping Colorado in the game. A 3-3 tie would head to a shootout where Alex Tanguay and Nathan MacKinnon would both tally once again, while Varlamov would hold strong after allowing the first shooter a goal. After the 6-0 slaughter handed down by the Islanders, Roy’s “message” at practice certainly seemed to have paid off. Yet it was only one game and Colorado would need to prove it again against New Jersey.

 

Tonight the Devils and Avalanche met for the first time this season. Devil goalie Cory Schneider would make his 18th consecutive start, something he has never done before in his young NHL career. Cory Schneider is finally the number one guy with no looming goaltenders and he is showing why, sporting a 2.71 GAA and a .910 Save Percentage in 18 games. The Avalanche would look a little sluggish to start the game. Just 2:04 into the game Martin Havlat would sink a juicy rebound kicked out by Varlamov. Colorado would be dominated for the first half of the first period before John Mitchell would sneak the Avs 2nd shot of the game past (Cory) Schneider. We would go into the 2nd period, off a faceoff Avs goaltender, Semyon Varlamov, would be screened from afar by the referee and Gelinas would score his 2nd of the season. Avalanche fans instantly would enter the “here we go again” mode they have found all season. However, Erik Johnson, would squeak a puck past (Cory) Schneider and watch the puck slow motion cross the goal line to tie up the game four minutes later. Just when everyone seemed to think this game was headed to overtime, yet again for Avs fans, Matt Duchene picks up his own rebound and swipes in his 6th of the season to give the Avs a 3-2 lead. Tyson Barrie picked up his 12th assist and is slowly climbing the points chart for defensemen, his defensive play has picked up of late as he has gone from a -8 to a -3. Colorado is on their first winning streak of the season after two come from behind wins.

 

Their confidence seems to have taken a boost from the win in New York over the Rangers and could now be on a high after the New Jersey win. This is just the boost Colorado needs if they plan to fight for a top 8 playoff spot. Their five overtime losses have kept them in it with five extra points (Although the other five would have been ideal) if they can string together some wins, they will be right with the pack. The Avs will head home with five days off before the host the Washington Capitals. The last time they had just two days off, they got man handled 6-0 by the Islanders. I expect Coach Roy to keep the team in check and hope they do not lose the momentum they just created. I expect the newly put together line of O’Reilly, Duchene and Tanguay to stay together and Semyon Varlamov to get his 4th consecutive start.

[Zz_]

Sorry for the format, some difficulty with word and pasting here...

[hf101]

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Welcome to Hockey Forums!

 

I'm not sure what took so long for Roy to get a line together with Tanguay for some offense as there is more than enough offensive talent.  I think the team started off the year with an identity crisis once Stastny signed with the Blues.  It wasn't just the talent on the ice that was being missed, it was the leadership off the ice too.  

 

A healthy Barrie is a key for sure as the team isn't the same without him. 

[Zz_]

I think it is far more than Roy putting that line together, its why did it take Roy so long to kick their rear ends in practice. Why did it take a 6-0 loss to give them a lashing? There are so many missing elements to the team this year. Including Paul Stastny, which is weird because no one expected that loss to hit the team THIS hard. I could write another blog/forum just on this haha...

[jammer2]

@  The loss of Stasney was far greater than most anticipated. He's missed just as much on defense as he is on offense. Stasney's presecne took the heat off of McKinnon to produce from a top 6 position. Now that he is gone, the Ave's have put pressure on the youngsters to produce...and the results are not pretty to this point. All the kids are struggling, McKinnon, Landy, Duchene...all mired in slumps. I have a feeling the top pp is going to click one day and just never stop scoring.

 

  Poor Varly, he is getting left hung out to dry. Tons of rebounds from the crappy defense not clearing the crease, tons of odd man breaks, lot's of forwards (even in the bottom six) not coming back with authority on the backcheck.

[Zz_]

That's exactly the point, no one expect Stastny to have such an impact when he left. No one really recognized his  leadership, his defensive play, offensively he is very replicable if everyone can start to click. MacKinnon is still very, very young, he has never had to reproduce at this level before. Once he understands how to get going, he will be a force to be recon with. I cant say there is pressure on "young" players to produce because everyone but MacKinnon has 3+ years of experience in this league other than their Defense and Everberg. Guys like Landeskog should have better control of himself, he has 22 PIM in 19 games, only Cody McLeod and Erik Johnson have more and as a captain, I believe that is unacceptable. He has been a push over in a large quantity of games and if that's how he is going to play, that is how his team will play, like push overs. Our defense on the other hand has been horrible, the only guys that have stepped up have been Zach Redmond,  Tyson Barrie of late, Erik Johnson and Jan Hejda. Brad Staurt is a joke, Nick Holden has played like a lot of people expect him to last season, a -15 is just a ridiculous number no matter how pointless the stat is. Nate Guenin has been irrelevant and benched on and off. Ryan Wilson, as expected, injured yet again, Colorado should really trade or let him walk. I think Redmond has been the only plus, we are 4-2-2 with him in and he seems to have the jump Nick Holden had last season. If Holden finds his groove I think the Avs become a better team and it rubs off down the lineup, I do not think the Avs are down just yet. 

[jammer2]

I cant say there is pressure on "young" players to produce because everyone but MacKinnon has 3+ years of experience in this league other than their Defense and Everberg. Guys like Landeskog should have better control of himself, he has 22 PIM in 19 games, only Cody McLeod and Erik Johnson have more and as a captain, I believe that is unacceptable.

 

 Oh geez, could not agree more ZZ....totally unacceptable for anyone with 3+ years experience to be that undisciplined, but to have your captain pulling those unnecessary PIM's.....that is just brutal. He's supposed to be leading....part and parcel for naming such a young captain, he may indeed be the right guy for the job, but his relative youth dictates there will be some growing pains involved.

 

 I caught a Ave's game last week and really liked what I saw in Redmond. Plays with a lot of heart and grit and skates well.

 

  Also agree, Brad Stuart needs to go....and go now. A forum member Joe Thornton was telling anyone that would listen, that the Ave's would be in trouble with a defense featuring Stuart. I've viewed Holden as the emergency replacement for Barrie or Johnson, should one of them not be able to go on the top pp. Kind of a built in insurance policy of sorts.....BUT, while he is being the insurance he's GOT to be accountable in his own end while doing it. Holden is a -15.....WOW....he needs to sit, they must have somebody waiting in the wings in the AHL that is better than that.....how can you get any worse?!?!  

[Zz_]

AHL we have several guys that could be call upon, out only issue is that Roy only wants to give the current guys the shot over and over. He has Elliott that started to emerge late last season, Siemens who is due for his first taste of the NHL. Bruno Gervais and Maxim Noreau who we picked up for depth reasons and Noreau who Duchene thinks will be awesome. We also went after Cody Corbett who will be a great NHLer who deserves a chance to play an nhl game. Markus Lauridsen who could also be a depth along side Karl Stollery, although Stollery has played some NHL games and I wasn't impressed by much.

[jammer2]

@  Duncan Siemens is that monstrous 6'6 D-man they drafted in the 1st round a few years back, no?  From what I remember, he's a defensive d-man...no?  Does he have any kind of offensive upside to speak of? 

 

  I saw a fair amount of Joey Hishon from his OHL days. Guy has some nice hands and very shifty jitterbug type of offensive center. Hopefully, the concussions are a thing of the past, cause this guy has NHL talent....just a pure question of health if he makes the jump.

[jammer2]

@   The Flyers own the rights to Markus's Lauridsen older brother Oliver Lauridsen. Apparently they are both long shots to make their respective squads. Time is running out on his older brother....he's at the make it or break it time in his career.

 

 http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=130927

[Zz_]

Yes, Duncan Siemens is a defensive defensemen, he tries to model his game after Scott Stevens.  A lot of people also say that he reminds them a little bit of Adam Foote when he was younger. He does not have huge offensive numbers, they were certainly decent his first few years with the Saskatoon Blades but in Lake Erie he has 58 games 1g 5a and a +2 56PIM. I have personally had a chance to talk with him after he got drafted and he had gone through a lot of things that really tested him mentally. Personal life things that I cannot speak of without his approval, however, he seems this season to have gotten past all that and his injuries from last year. I think he will be that solid guy that could line up with Tyson Barrie at some point to make a good duel combination. Siemens was partners with Stefan Elliott back in Saskatoon and they dominated for the Blades together. In other words, if Elliott fails to stay with the Avalanche (already having been placed on waivers this season) Siemens could fall side by side with Barrie and give that same exact dynamic. The whole reason we took Siemens to being with, we had already grabbed Elliott and wanted that same magic, it lacks with Elliott but could be remade with Barrie.

 

I doubt Lauridsen would make the roster with all the other players the Avs have. However, the Avs seem to call up the most random player at the most random of times. I believe it was Joey Hishon they called up over a guy like Mark Olver last season. Someone who didn't know the system and had never played an NHL game for playoffs. I mean Olver never played a playoff game for the Avs but had a lot of NHL experience from the Joe Sacco days. You always want your kids to get into the NHL and taste it out, but in the first round up 2-1 or tied 2-2 whenever it was, I would have taken experience over a rookie with nothing. Now had Hishon played earlier in the season when we had injuries, I would have been ok with it, but It just seemed off. Hishon had that brutal hit from Brayden McNabb that left him with a concussion and out for a year and a half. They say once you get one major head injury like that you become more susceptible, plus Hishon is known for ankle injuries. I think he will make the NHL but not for awhile or until he is traded.

[yave1964]

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You have a kid down in Lake Erie named Scarbossa who is the greatest player I have ever seen. Really. I am not kidding.

I live in Ohio, HUGE Wings fan but love the game, during the lockout, I was sick over no Hockey, I settled on the AHL. I watched a Lake Erie game on TV against my Grand Rapids Griffins and Scarbossa scored twice. I read up on the kid, I didn't really know anything about him, I found out he was part of the Winnik deal from the Sharks.

A few nights later I went to a Monsters game, Scarbossa scored again, this time, I believe against the Marlies.

The long and short of it is, over about a month I watched the Griffins on the net, but whenever the Monsters were on TV I made a point of watching them, the wife and my youngest daughter who is a Jackets fan (We cannot all be perfect) would sit and watch Scarbossa too, until he scored. I swear, between seeing him live twice and six additional times on TV Scarbossa scored a goal in 8 straight games that I watched. It became a running joke in the house. The streak ended at 8, I have watched a few Monsters games since and he is kind of in and out, but for about a month there, during the lockout I was his personal good luck charm, 8 random games, he scored in each one I watched. I still root for him, he is slipping a bit as a prospect. Still, the kid is a favorite of our whole family because of one strange streak.

[Zz_]

Michael Sgarbossa was a great pick up along with Jamie McGinn in the San Jose Shark deal a few years ago. He has amazing OHL numbers, and fairly decent numbers in the AHL. He was called up for 6 games in 2012-13 and went -3 with 0 points (which is explainable for nearly any young guy playing their first few games in the NHL. Yet it does not seem so far like Coach Roy likes his work ethic. Even in training camp (which I went to all six/seven sessions) Roy did not seem to be around him as he was some of the other guys like, Connor Bleackley, Joey Hishon, Mitchell Heard. Sgarbossa may not fall into favor with Patrick Roy and therefore may end up being some part of trade bait in the future for assets or some type of defenseman. I feel that since he is a centre also that he may lose out because we have so many centre positioned players in our system, regardless of them being versatile or not. It is sad because the kid is great, and has a chance to be a great NHL player for someone, just probably not Colorado. We will see though, I am not the Avalanche or Lake Erie coaching staff, Sgarbossa could play next week for all I know. 

[yave1964]

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Welcome to the forum BTW if I didn't say that already.

I have hated your Avalanche with all of my soul and will and might since the rivalry we had in the nineties that spilled over to the 2000's as well. Claude Freaking Lemieux is the cleanest way I can either write or pronounce his name, I HATED Roy, Forsberg, Fragile Foot Forsberg, Blake, all the rest. I circled the games on the schedule, and I didn't care if the rapture came while a Wings/Avalanche game I would have hoped I didn't make the cut or that God wouldn't mind waiting for the game to be over. Just hated your boys with a blinding white hate.

A few years ago, I had reason to be in Toronto with the wife when the Leafs/Senators were getting ready to play. It was all that was on TV, the battle of Ontario, I swear you woulda thought it was game seven of the Stanley Cup instead of a meaningless November game between two irrelevant teams. Just unreal. One of the announcers even made a comment in a giddy moment that it was the greatest rivalry in Hockey.

No way. The greatest rivalry I have ever seen was that ten year stretch of greatness between two elite teams that gave no quarter, every shift was life and death, I could have never had a friend who was an Avalanche fan at that time, that is how serious it was to me. If a drop dead gorgeous woman came in wearing nothing but a Patrick Roy Jersey and a smile after I threw up I would have simply left in disgust. The rivalry was that intense.

Ottawa and Toronto? Regional, sure but that is it.

Battle of Alberta? Ask most USA folks to find Alberta on a map. Nobody outside of Calgary/Edmonton even remembers it.

Flyers and Penguins? Nice local rivalry that is about it.

Don't get me wrong, lots of great rivalries and I know I wear red colored glasses, but the Wings and Lanche was the greatest since Richard and Howe went elbow to Elbow in the fifties.

I miss it. As time goes by, the hatred has faded (with the exception of Lemieux) and I heard an interview with roy last year, interviewed by Osgood of all people, and the interview was a delight. I miss the Sakic/Yzerman face offs, the Roy and Vernon or Ozzie meeting at center ice to fight, I miss Mike Keane talking crap in interviews after the game, Rene Corbet, Rob Blake, Kamensky, all the rest of your boys. I hope that some time in my life, a rivalry somewhat like the one that we had with your guys develops again. Too many vanilla games between teams that don't seem to know each other, the occasional face wash or when the whistle blows they might go nose to nose but it looks like they are doing so hoping th coach will see their fake intensity and give them more ice time.

I want a hate. I miss it.

Anyway, there is my rant. Good luck to your boys this year. Oh God, I said good luck to an Avalanche fan. I think I might have thrown up a bit in my mouth, lol.

[Zz_]

@yave1964

 

Its funny, I was only 6 when the Avalanche came to Denver in 1995. Yet, I seem to remember the HATE I had for the Wings growing up. Had a friend from Mass. that was a Wings fan and I gave him crap left and right, we were unsure as to how we were friends. It was about 2005 (ish) when my hatred for the Wings was a little less. That was strictly because of Sidney Crosby, I cannot stand the Penguins because of him and I think I dislike the Redwings less and less every year. My coach is a huge Wings fan, but she bought and O'Reilly Jersey and is an Avalanche season ticket holder, kind of weird how far the Wings and Avs have faded from those days. I can honestly say, Minnestoa, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and St. Louis beat out the Redwings in my team hatred. Minnesota are the winners due to their DIRTY ass play on Barrie in the playoffs. Vancouver started back with Bertuzzi's nasty play of Steve Moore, but it increased about two/three years ago just because I cant stand their players like Burrows. With them out of our division though, I do not have as much of an angst to play and beat them. St. Louis just because I never liked them to start, but every time we play them it takes me back to 2001 when we knocked them out of the WCF. The radio station had a parody of some song, but I remember, "Tkachuk is the sound I make when I go poo-poo." The song was far better than just that line, but I laugh inside every time and just want to beat them as we did back then. Now with them in the division, I hope the rivalry starts up again and Id love to meet in the playoffs. 

 

As for the Redwings, I would never expect it to get back to the way it was, UNLESS we met in the Cup Final. However, the way the Avs are playing this season, we need to just focus on making the playoffs to start, better yet, winning 1 game at a time!!!! 

 

Thanks for your insight though, I felt the same way for a long time, it was sort of bled into me being so young. haha

[yave1964]

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If Cooke had not knocked out Barrie with that cheap ass hit, I am 100 percent convinced that the Avalanche would have rolled over the Wild, no doubt, bank on it, case closed. I enjoyed that series as a Hockey fan, when Barrie went out it changed the complexion of the series. Absolutely the dirtiest player in the game.

[Zz_]

@yave1964

 

I wonder if he and Claude Lemieux have had off ice conversation lol. I still do not think the Draper hit was intended to be as horrible as it was now that I have watched it since. I think Cooke's hit on Barrie was far dirtier, not to mention some of the other crap he has pulled, by far the most reckless NHL player, he should have been kicked out of the league after his last crap. Certainly changed that entire series, as well as Keumper hurting his hand. Had he not left the game at that point, Wild would have lost that game 7, but the goal change gave Minnesota just enough of a boost that the tied it up and won it. I was at that game, the arena just went silent, it was the most terrible feeling I had ever had. Seeing them knocked out growing up was rough, but being there and seeing it all happen...killer